Chuck Schuldiner Project

Thursday, May 24, 2018

ASG - Survive Sunrise

ASG have always been on sort of the periphery of my taste. They were a stoner rock band and a good one to be sure but I don't think I ever understood what made them truly special. I didn't quite get what I was missing about this band that they could keep growing. But now I get it. In fact I get it so hard that I am planning on spending most of tomorrow digging through their back catalog. This record pushes the bands poppier aspects but never at the expense of raw rock fury with potent riffs coming out of their ears.

There has been a clear step forward with ASG's songwriting sensibility here. A track like Weekend Money which is chock full of riffs and has quite a few potent melodic lines is the sort of thing ASG might have never previously created. What they have now is incredible multi layered stoner rock, sun drenched and full with a latent sense of evil you can't help but to love. The band has reached a point where they almost feel like a blend of Torche, Clutch and Ghost and I fucking love it. The potent forward motion and transcendent chorus of riffs is thrilling, over the top and neverendingly fun. Within it all though this is a record that is thoroughly digestible, even on first listen you'll be smiling and singing along.

This is the sort of record that you can get wholly lost in. It's a record that has layers upon layers and each one is somehow better than the last. The sublime poetry of these songs and the way that they dance across your ears is thrilling. In a world where most stoner rock falls into the same dull tropes, ASG are breaking through and turning the genre on its head to create a potent rock and roll experience that perfectly reflects the realities of 2018. Hopeful, heavy and ever expanding, Survive Sunrise is an absolute motherfucker of a listen.Find them on Facebook!https://www.facebook.com/asgnation/Pre-order the record! http://relapse.com/asg-survive-sunrise/